So juicy!

I’m sick. I don’t like being sick. I know, I know, nobody likes being sick! I had a super busy week filled with awesome things, like my class play, and not so awesome things, like my car needing expensive fixing -up. Add all that up, throw in some germy kids and voilà, sick me! It’s mostly an annoying cough, so I’ll live.

I went to up to my parent’s place yesterday so my dad could change the breaks on my car (with all the things I had to pay for this week, I was happy to take advantage of some free labour. Thanks Pop and Uncle Phil!)

My mom and my aunts were at the farm planting the garden. I sort of helped, a little. Well, I cut up the planting potatoes. Mostly I sat on the porch and read my book.

Also, I took some pretty pictures.

My mom took pity on me because I was sick and made me some fresh juice. I’ve never been a fan of juicing, and I didn’t want anything green in there, so she made me a carrot, apple and orange juice. It was delicious! She said I would feel better as soon as I drank it. I didn’t work quite that fast, but I feel much better today, so it must have helped!

I borrowed their juicer so I could make more fresh juice until I feel better. I quite like it, so I’ll probably keep juicing once I feel better! Today I made carrot, apple, orange and celery.

I watched a documentary a few weeks ago called “Fat, sick and nearly dead” about an overweight, sick man who gets healthy largely by going on a juice fast. It was very interesting. My mom and I also watched two documentaries last night called “Hungry for change” and “Happy”. I enjoy documentaries because they really make you think.

Do you have any juice recipes I should try? Or any documentaries I should watch?

Don’t lose your Christmas spirit!

When I was a little girl, I was always sad when Christmas was over. I waited so long for it, and after a quick blur of hugs, laughter, presents, Santa, cookies and family, it was gone. I knew I would have to wait very long for it to be Christmas again.

Now that I’m an adult, I know it won’t be long until Christmas comes again, because time seems to speed up the older you get, but it still makes me sad that it’s over. People are nicer around the holidays and I miss that when the world goes back to normal. To help people be happy, smiley and nice to each other, I’ve compiled a list of 10 ways to hold on to your Chirstmas spirit for a whole year!

1. Play

We play during the holidays, so why not play all year? Play whatever you want. Play a board game or play with your Barbies (you know you want to). Build a fort or go on a scavenger hunt. In my family, we play cards. The day after Christmas, we play poker. I dont usually win (ok, never), but that’s not the point. It’s fun! This year I made it to the final six (out of 13). Yay me!

2. Sing

People who say they never sing can be heard singing Christmas carols if you listen closely enough. They smile while they’re doing it. If you recognize yourself here, then this message is for you: Sing!

3. Eat

At Christmas time, we let ourselves eat what we want to without feeling guilty. What if we did that all year? Now I’m not saying go nuts on the brownies or the french fries every day, but if you have a cupcake, eat it, enjoy it, then forget about it. That is all.

4. Be nice

Being nice to people is not just biting your tongue when someone who got a really bad haircut asks for your opinion. We give to those in need around Christmas, but they need us to be nice all year round, too. We can’t give to everyone, all the time, but sometimes, we can give time, patience and love without it costing us anything at all.

5. Get excited

I love Christmas as much for the time spent with family and friends as for the days leading up to it. Baking, finding gifts for people I love, decorating, all this makes me happy. It’s good to get excited, to look forward to something we know will bring us joy. I’m still enjoying Christmas time, but I’m also looking forward to going snowboarding!

6. Love

We all have people we love, and we love being with them, but sometimes life gets in the way of us remembering how important that is. Spending time with loved ones is not just a Christmas thing, it’s a guaranteed-to-make-you-happy thing.

7. Read

Maybe this one isn’t a Christmas thing, but more of a time-off thing, but curling up with a good book and forgetting the world for a couple of hours is magical. Bonus points if there is a snowstorm or a thunderstorm. When you finally tear yourself away from your book, you feel as if you’ve been on an incredible adventure. Unless your book is boring. Find a new book.

8. Watch TV

This is like the reading thing and the eating thing. It’s like reading because it’s not necessarily a Christmas thing, but if you have time, I recommend you watch several hours of television without feeling guilty (like the food thing). My mom and I spent a good amout of time (ok, 439 minutes) watching The Pillars of the Earth mini-series yesterday. Last year, it was The Thorn Birds. I don’t think it’s a good idea to this every week or anything, as you might lose all your friends, maybe your job and probably your dog, but once in a while, go for it. Enjoy it. Then go for a walk, you’ll need it!

9. Sleep

Ahh, sleep. For most of us, functioning on very little sleep is like wearing a badge of honnor. It might not be possible to sleep as much as you like, but we tend to indulge ourselves and sleep in during the Christmas holidays. Do this as often as you can. Well rested-people are 38% happier than other people (yes, I made that up, but it sounds good.)

10. See the magic

If you’re lucky enough to have children in your life, you get to see Christmas through their eyes. It’s magical. Santa might only come once a year, but kids are amazed daily. Imagine if seeing a butterfly take flight or finding the perfect snowflake still brought you the same joy it once did. You might have to find new ways to see the magic, but it’s there, if you look hard enough.

What does one wear to a Time Warp?

Don’t dream it, be it.

That’s the tag line for The Rocky Horror Picture Show. I heard about this movie when I was in college, and I was fascinated with the idea of audience participation during a movie. I heard people dressed up and threw things at the screen. Definitely two things I wanted to do!

Well, 12 years later, I made it! Last night, I became an official Rocky Horror participant! Because it’s almost Halloween, the Mayfair theatre, which shows old and off-beat movies, is having a Rocky Horror event. They have it every year, and it’s apparently the third most popular in North America and the highest grossing in Canada.

I had never seen the whole movie, but I knew some of the songs and who the characters were. I wasn’t sure if people were going to dress up, so I googled “what to wear to the Rocky Horror Picture Show”. I found this site and they suggested dressing up as one of the characters. I was a little hesitant, as was my friend Suzanne (who, by the way, googled the same thing I did). I went with kind-of-big hair (like Magenta, but not, because my hair was straight) and lots of eye liner. Suzanne went with sparkles (Columbia) and pearls (Frank-n-Furter).

This is us waiting in line outside the theatre like groupies at a concert.

The Mayfair theatre is really beautiful and old. It’s a one-room theatre and it has so much more character than the newer movie complexes. There was also a stage in front of the screen.

There were actors playing the parts of the main characters. I wasn’t sure what to expect. When the first song came on, with only the mouth singing on screen, a girl, dressed as Magenta, came on stage and started lipsynching. The she started to strip. She stripped all the way down to practically nothing. I knew some of the costumes were racy, but I wasn’t expecting this!

After that, I was ready for anything. We weren’t allowed to throw rice or confetti during the wedding scene, but people were shouting out one-liners and comments and it was pretty funny. I didn’t know any of the lines, but it was my first time, after all.

When Janet and Brad got out of the car during the storm, I was ready with my newspaper. Everyone covered their head when Janet did and people were spraying water and waving flashlights around when they got to the mansion. It was so much fun!

My favourite part was the Time Warp. I loved getting up, dancing and singing. I don’t think I did all the moves right, but no one was looking, everyone was having a great time.

I also really liked throwing toast during the dinner scene! I felt a little strange before the show, making toast with the sole purpose of throwing it at a movie screen, but it was worth it! Actually, to be fair, I ate the first toast I made, so then I had to make more.

The movie itself is pretty cheesy, but that’s what makes it so good. Having the people on stage act out the scenes at the same time as the movie was great. It added to the story, especially when the actors made up their own lines. Sometimes, people were yelling so many things that you couldn’t hear what was going on in the movie. I’m pretty sure that’s the point.

Plus, going to this event was number 59 on my list of 101 things to do in 1001 days. It was also on Suzanne’s list, so we wanted to do it together!

Next time, because there will definitely be a next time, I’m going full-out Magenta, big hair, apron and all!

Remember, Don’t dream it, be it!

Friday Night Lights, a.k.a. Don’t talk to me, I’m busy.

Last winter, I discovered I had a passion for football. Ok, maybe not for football, but for Friday Night Lights, and the show’s about football, so it’s kind of the same thing. I got really into it. All the drama, cheering on the Panthers, rooting for Tyra and Landry, who have a Ross and Rachel thing going on. I have a crush on Tim, I admit it.  I got so into it, actually, that I had to cut myself off. I was halfway through season 3 when I just stopped watching, because I wasn’t doing anything else. I’m exaggerating of course. I still went to work and stuff, I just could not watch only one episode. I had to know what happened. These were like real people!

Sometimes, I would think about my friends from Dillon, Texas, and wonder how they were doing. I would be tempted to watch just one episode to catch up on their oh, so exciting lives. But, I didn’t do it. I have no self control. It was never going to be just one episode, and we all knew it (my Texas friends and I).

It’s been really hot and sunny all summer, so I have spent as much time as possible outside. Then, last week, it started to rain. Friday afternoon (how appropriate) I caved in and dusted off my season 3 dvds. I then proceded to watch the remaing episodes all weekend. I realized I had been waiting for a rainy day to completely flake out and watch tv. I missed my friends and it was great getting to know them again. Specially Tim. Bliss.

I have done this before with other tv shows. I love watching a show when it’s on dvd, because then I don’t have to wait to see what happens. Here are a few of the shows I’ve been addicted to.

Lost

Season 1 was amazing! I was a few years behind and everyone had already seen it, so I tried to get people to give me information about what was going on. I would pester them with questions like “What’s up with the polar bears?” “What’s that spooky black stuff floating around?” “Why does everyone call Matthew Fox  Jack? His name should be Charlie, like in Party of Five.” Season 2 was not as great, but still good. Then, I kind of lost interest during season 3 and never watched the rest.

One tree Hill

I also have a passion for basketball, imagine that. I didn’t think I would like this show, as I thought it was all about teenage drama and unrealistic situations. It was, but I loved it! I was pretty sad when it ended. I actually have cousins, who are brothers, named Nathan and Lukas. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately, depending on how you look at it) the town we grew up in is not like Tree Hill. By the way, if someone could tell me what was up with Lucas’ hair in season 9, that would be very helpful.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

I can’t express my love for Buffy in words. I want to be Buffy when I grow up. This has to be the best-written show I have ever watched. It’s everything a tv show should be, plus it has vampires. Buffy and Angel made vampires cool long before Twilight came along.

I could go on here, naming other obsessions of mine (Gilmore Girls, Grey’s Anatomy, Friends and Sex and the City, to name a few) but I don’t want you to think that all I do is watch tv. Also, I really want to watch another episode of Friday Night Lights, because I went out and got season 4 and I think something is up with Julie and Matt.